Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
EGFR protein linked to survival in dogs with lung cancer
By Sabattini, S et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2014·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: EGFR overexpression in canine primary lung cancer: pathogenetic implications and impact on survival.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 37 dogs with primary lung cancer and found that many of them had high levels of a protein called EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) in their tumors. This overexpression of EGFR was linked to worse survival rates and was more common in dogs exposed to air pollution, indicated by a condition called anthracosis. The findings suggest that EGFR might play a role in the development of lung cancer in dogs and could be a factor in how long they live after diagnosis.
People also search for: dog lung cancer symptoms · EGFR in canine cancer · dog cancer survival rates · air pollution effects on dogs · primary lung cancer in dogs
Abstract
This study reports the main clinicopathological features of primary lung cancer (PLC) in 37 dogs, with special regard to the pathogenetic and prognostic role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) overexpression. For each case the following characteristics were evaluated: tumour-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, tumour histotype, histological grade, mitotic activity and immunohistochemical expression of EGFR. In samples with available normal lung tissue, the amount of background anthracosis was also measured by image analysis. In 27 tumours (73%) a variable number of cells (20-100%) stained positively for EGFR. The proportion of EGFR-positive tumours was significantly higher in cases with background anthracosis, and the amount of anthracosis was correlated with the percentage of positive tumour cells. Additionally, a trend towards shortened survival for the high EGFR group was observed. These findings suggest an involvement of EGFR signalling pathway in canine PLC, a negative prognostic significance of protein overexpression and its potential implication in air pollution carcinogenesis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22994149/